Snail Mail
by flipomatic
Summary: And then Tsugumi started to play. More accurately, part of Sayo's brain provided, the whole band was playing, but all she processed was the piano softly backing the guitar before harmonizing with the bass, coming up for a solo and wow Sayo realized she hadn't moved her penlight in over thirty seconds.


Author Note: Got myself a Sayo ship now.

* * *

Sayo stood in the crowd, engulfed on all sides by other audience members. She managed to have one hand raised, proudly holding a yellow penlight up for all to see amongst a sea of pink. The band she came to see, Afterglow, was due to start playing in a couple minutes. All around her people chatted about how excited they were to hear Ran sing, but all Sayo could think about was the pianist who'd invited her to the show.

It happened about a week before the concert. Sayo didn't often get mail. Her band mates used line live and regular text messages to communicate over distances, never requiring the physical sending of paper. What little mail Sayo did receive consisted primarily of coupons and spam, which Hina snapped up for some odd reason.

That changed when a letter came to the house. It was hand addressed to Hikawa Sayo with a return address she didn't recognize and a small stamp in the upper right corner. When Sayo's parents gave it to her out of the mail pile, she retreated to her room to open it before Hina could claim that it was hers instead.

Inside the envelope, there were two pieces of paper. One was standard sized printer paper, while the other was a small rectangle that appeared to be a ticket of some kind.

The letter read:

Dear Sayo-san,

You are cordially invited to Afterglow's performance on June 23rd at Circle. You can find one ticket inside this envelope. I hope you see you there.

Sincerely,

Hazawa Tsugumi

Sayo had to read it twice to fully comprehend the contents. She'd met Tsugumi a couple months ago at a baking class, well, more specifically Tsugumi taught Sayo at a baking class. They'd bonded over their mutual hard-working attitudes and had even spent some time together since then. Neither had seen the other perform yet though. Sayo knew how hard the other girl worked and was interested in seeing her perform.

The contents of the letter seemed a bit strange. They were formal and also typed, but maybe Tsugumi preferred to do things formally. Sayo could certainly agree with the level of professionalism.

It could be a good learning experience, Sayo thought as she scrutinized the small piece of paper that the letter claimed to be a ticket. Ran, the lead singer of Afterglow, competed fiercely with Yukina. If anyone asked, she could say she was scoping out the completion.

But wow, she thought with a smile, Tsugumi wanted her there. She wanted Sayo to see her play.

As Sayo penciled the concert onto her calendar, she basked in the warm feeling in her chest.

Over the next week, Sayo prepared for the concert. She didn't have a penlight, since she didn't usually waste her time going to see other bands. She probably could get away without one, but it didn't feel right not to properly support her friend during the show. Sayo ordered the device online, paying a little extra for express shipping.

Hina almost took the box when it arrived. She had it in her hands when Sayo got home from practice and was shaking it as if to try and figure out what it was. Sayo put an end to that behavior and claimed her prize.

The penlight was just as expected, so Sayo was able to put a few batteries in and power it up. After politely asking, Ako had given her a list of the colors she needed along with some gibberish about how penlights can be used to make pentragrams. Sayo programmed it with all of Afterglow's colors, starting with Tsugumi's yellow.

On the day of the concert, Sayo made sure to arrive early enough to get a good spot. The person at the door didn't actually want her ticket, and instead told Sayo she'd already been paid for. That seemed, odd, but who was Sayo to complain.

She soon found herself sardined with other fans, ready for the concert to begin.

Once the show started, Sayo soon forgot about the people around her. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the bands pianist, one Tsugumi Hazawa. The other teen looked slightly nervous as the band walked out onto the stage, but when she placed her hands on the keyboard her expression changed. She set her mouth and narrowed her brown eyes in determination.

And then Tsugumi started to play. More accurately, part of Sayo's brain provided, the whole band was playing, but all she processed was the piano softly backing the guitar before harmonizing with the bass, coming up for a solo and wow Sayo realized she hadn't moved her penlight in over thirty seconds.

When the song ended, most of the audience changed their penlights to light blue to cheer for the guitarist, but Sayo left hers on yellow.

Before she knew it, the concert was over. The band took their final bow and bid the audience farewell. The audience soon started to trickle out, which gave Sayo enough room to bring her arm down and turn the penlight, still yellow, off. She followed the crowd towards the door, taking care not to bump anyone by accident. Sayo debated going to the back and saying hello to Tsugumi, but decided against it. The band was probably busy enough without a guest, so she thought about just texting her later instead. Sayo had almost made it out into the fresh air when she heard a familiar voice calling her name.

"Sayo-saaaaaan!" Along with the elongated suffix, Sayo felt a small hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Moca, the guitarist who she just watched perform. The younger teen still wore her stage outfit.

"Aoba-san." The two stepped out of the way of the crowd as Sayo acknowledged the younger guitarist.

"Eeeeeeh." Moca ignored the curt greeting, instead looking Sayo up and down and muttering under her breath. "Hi-chan was right…"

"What did you say?" Sayo couldn't really hear her over the crowd.

Moca's blue eyes snapped up, an unnerving smirk creeping onto her face. "Sayo-san isn't going to leave without saying goodbye, is she?"

"I… what?" Sayo wasn't sure how to respond to that. She knew Moca worked with Lisa and the two were friends, but Sayo almost never talked to the other girl.

"Let's gooooo." Moca grabbed Sayo's wrist, much to her surprise, and started dragging her towards the changing rooms.

One tug removed Sayo's stable footing and had her following along. "Please let me go." Sayo tried to dig her heels in or at least pull her arm away, but Moca was surprisingly strong. Actually, Sayo corrected herself despite the situation, as a guitarist it made sense for her to have strong hands. That didn't excuse Sayo's weak escape attempts though.

"Not until Sayo-san says goodbye to Tsugu." Moca said, refusing to relinquish her grip on Sayo.

Oh, that's where they were going then. Sayo stopped pulling back and allowed herself to be tugged the rest of the way. She hadn't wanted to interrupt, but if one of the members had actually come to get her, then maybe it was okay. Sayo still had to figure out what to say though, which was honestly the hardest part.

She didn't have too much time to think before Moca came to a halt at the closed dressing room door. In front of the door, standing with her arms crossed, leaned Tomoe.

"Moca, where have you been?" Tomoe's mouth was set in a firm frown. "Himari just sent me to look for you."

"I'm here now~~~." Moca released her death grip on Sayo's wrist.

"And you brought a guest." Icy blue eyes shifted to Sayo, sending a chill down her spine. As the tallest member of Afterglow, Tomoe cut an intimidating figure. Sayo could only return the cold look, unsure of what earned her this treatment.

"She wants to see Tsugu."

"They're still getting changed in there." Tomoe tightened her arms. "She's not going in."

"Fiiiiiiiine." Moca turned to Sayo. "If you leave before talking to Tsugu, Moca-chan will haunt you for a thouuuuusand years." She winked before slipping past Tomoe and into the dressing room.

"Pft, she would probably give up after only a few days." Tomoe chuckled to herself, but Sayo couldn't bring herself to laugh. She knew a bit about Tomoe since Ako liked to talk about her, but had met her even less times than Moca.

Once her laugh died out, Tomoe stared at Sayo in silence. Sayo pulled out her phone to break the tension, checking to see if she had any texts while she waited for Tsugumi. She could still feel the piercing gaze of the tall drummer as she scrolled through a few excited texts from Hina.

"Tomoe." The door popped open behind Tomoe, Himari's face poking through the crack. "I need you in here." She said quickly, dragging Tomoe through the door with what looked like a bear hug. The taller teen had barely vanished when someone else was forced out of the door.

"Moca-chan, okay, I'm going." Tsugumi practically fell out of the changing room, stumbling as if she'd been shoved. Someone on the inside yanked the door shut, leaving only Sayo and Tsugumi in the hallway.

"Sayo-san?" Tsugumi's eyes came up to meet Sayo's. widening with surprise. She had changed back into her normal clothes, but still looked slightly sweaty from the performance.

"Hazawa-san, congratulations on your performance today" Sayo didn't waste time with small talk. "I thought you played very well." That was a little vague, Sayo thought to herself, but an okay start. Her tongue often got stuck when talking to Tsugumi.

"Ah, thank you!" A light pink dusted Tsugumi's cheeks. "It's such a nice surprise to see you here."

"You weren't expecting me?" That hurt a little, especially since Tsugumi had sent her a ticket in the… wait one moment. "Didn't you send me a ticket in the mail?"

"I don't think there were tickets for this concert." Tsugumi lifted one hand to her chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, I wonder, Moca maybe…" Her voice trailed off before returning. "Really thank you for coming!"

"You're welcome," Sayo cleared her throat. "I remember you told me how hard you've been practicing, and I think it has really paid off." She fought a creeping heat on her neck as she spoke. "You played beautifully today, Hazawa-san."

"R-really?" Tsugumi's face darkened as she broke eye contact with Sayo. "Thank you, Sayo-san. I'm glad you liked it. How would you, umm." She brought her hands together, fidgeting. "Would you like to come to our concert next month as well?" She asked in a soft tone, almost too quiet for Sayo to hear.

Sayo's heart swelled; even if the ticket in the mail had been false, this invitation was for real. "I would. Thank you for inviting me." She took a deep breath, forcing herself to not speak too quickly. "And, if you want, Roselia is having a concert in a couple weeks. I have a ticket for a friend, if you are interested?"

Tsumugi gasped, but then grinned. "Absolutely! I'd love to hear you play Sayo-san!"

The amount of force behind her statement surprised Sayo, a warm blush settling on her cheeks. She still hadn't regained her composure when the final member of Afterglow opened the door.

"Tsugu, time to go." Ran said calmly, completely ignoring Sayo. "Come get your belongings."

"I should head out." Sayo took a step back, her flush receding.

"Bye, thanks again for coming!" Tsugu waved as Sayo turned and started walking away.

Sayo left the studio, walking home in silence. In her head, she practiced riffs and chords for the upcoming concert.

Tsugumi was going to be there, and she couldn't wait.

* * *

 _A few minutes earlier_

Himari had one ear pressed against the door, listening eagerly to the conversation on the other side.

"You did this." Tomoe said bluntly, pretending like she also didn't want to listen in "Why?"

"Tsugu just needed a little push." Satisfied with what she heard, Himari straightened up. "She can handle the rest."


End file.
